Presentations and Public Speaking in English.docx

1、Presentations and Public Speaking in English Presentations and Public Speaking in EnglishA presentation is a formal talk to one or more people that presents ideas orinformation in a clear, structured way.People are sometimes afraid of speaking in public, but if you follow a few simple rules, giving

2、a presentation is actually very easy. This tutorial guides you through each stage of giving a presentation in English, from the initial preparation to the conclusion and questions and answers. This tutorial is itself set out like a mini-presentation.PreparationCan you name the 3 most important thing

3、s when giving anypresentation?Number 1 is . . . PreparationNumber 2 is . . . Preparation!Number 3 is . . . Preparation!Preparation is everything!With good preparation and planning you will be totallyconfident and less nervous. And your audience will feel yourconfidence. Your audience, too, will be c

4、onfident. They will beconfident in you. And this will give you control. Control of youraudience and of your presentation. With control, you will be incharge and your audience will listen positively to yourmessage.ObjectiveBefore you start to prepare a presentation, you should askyourself: Why am I m

5、aking this presentation? Do you need toinform, to persuade, to train or to sell? Your objective should beclear in your mind. If it is not clear in your mind, it cannotpossibly be clear to your audience.AudienceWho am I making this presentation to? Sometimes this will beobvious, but not always. You s

6、hould try to inform yourself. Howmany people? Who are they? Business people? Professionalpeople? Political people? Experts or non-experts? Will it be asmall, intimate group of 4 colleagues or a large gathering of 400competitors? How much do they know already and what will theyexpect from you?VenueWh

7、ere am I making this presentation? In a small hotelmeeting-room or a large conference hall? What facilities andequipment are available? What are the seating arrangements?Time and lengthWhen am I making this presentation and how long will it be?Will it be 5 minutes or 1 hour? Just before lunch, when

8、youraudience will be hungry, or just after lunch, when your audiencewill be sleepy?MethodHow should I make this presentation? What approach shouldyou use? Formal or informal? Lots of visual aids or only a few?Will you include some anecdotes and humour for variety?ContentWhat should I say? Now you mu

9、st decide exactly what youwant to say. First, you should brainstorm your ideas. You will nodoubt discover many ideas that you want to include in yourpresentation. But you must be selective. You should include onlyinformation that is relevant to your audience and your objective.You should exclude all

10、 other ideas. You also need to create a titlefor your presentation (if you have not already been given a title).The title will help you to focus on the subject. And you willprepare your visual aids, if you have decided to use them. Butremember, in general, less is better than more (a little is bette

11、rthan a lot). You can always give additional information duringthe questions after the presentation.StructureA well organised presentation with a clear structure is easier forthe audience to follow. It is therefore more effective. You shouldorganise the points you wish to make in a logical order. Mo

12、stpresentations are organised in three parts, followed byquestions:Beginning Short introduction welcome your audience introduce your subject explain the structure of yourpresentation explain rules for questionsMiddle Body ofpresentation present the subject itselfEnd Short conclusion summarise your p

13、resentation thank your audience invite questionsQuestions and AnswersNotesWhen you give your presentation, you should be - or appear tobe - as spontaneous as possible. You should not read yourpresentation! You should be so familiar with your subject andwith the information that you want to deliver t

14、hat you do notneed to read a text. Reading a text is boring! Reading a text willmake your audience go to sleep! So if you dont have a text toread, how can you remember to say everything you need to say?With notes. You can create your own system of notes. Somepeople make notes on small, A6 cards. Som

15、e people write downjust the title of each section of their talk. Some people writedown keywords to remind them. The notes will give youconfidence, but because you will have prepared yourpresentation fully, you may not even need them!RehearsalRehearsal is a vital part of preparation. You should leave

16、time to practise your presentation two or three times. This willhave the following benefits: you will become more familiar with what you want to say you will identify weaknesses in your presentation you will be able to practise difficult pronunciations you will be able to check the time that your pr

17、esentationtakes and make any necessary modificationsSo prepare, prepare, prepare! Prepare everything: words,visual aids, timing, equipment. Rehearse your presentationseveral times and time it. Is it the right length? Are youcompletely familiar with all your illustrations? Are they in theright order?

18、 Do you know who the audience is? How manypeople? How will you answer difficult questions? Do you knowthe room? Are you confident about the equipment? When youhave answered all these questions, you will be a confident,enthusiastic presenter ready to communicate the subject of yourpresentation to an

19、eager audience.EquipmentEasily your most important piece ofequipment is.YOU! Make sure yourein full working order, and check yourpersonal presentation carefully - if youdont, your audience will!The overhead projector (OHP) displaysoverhead transparencies (OHTs or OHPTs). Ithas several advantages ove

20、r the 35mm slideprojector: it can be used in daylight the user can face the audience the user can write or draw directly on thetransparency while in useThe whiteboard (more rarely blackboard orgreenboard) is a useful device for spontaneous writing - asin brainstorming, for example. For prepared mate

21、rial, theOHP might be more suitable.The duster is used for cleaning the whiteboard. It is essentialthat the duster be clean to start with. You may consider carryingyour own duster just in case.Markers are used for writing on the whiteboard (delible -you can remove the ink) or flipchart (indelible -

22、you cannotremove the ink). They are usually available in blue, red,black and green. Again, its a good idea to carry a spare set of markers in caseyou are given some used ones which do not write well.A good workman never blames his tools.The flipchart consists of several leaves of paper that you flip

23、 orturn over. Some people prefer the flipchart to the whiteboard, butits use is limited to smaller presentations.The Slide projector - which must beused in a darkened room - adds a certaindrama. Some slide projectors can besynchronised with audio for audio-visual(AV) presentations. These projectors

24、are typically used for larger presentations.The majority take 35mm slides or transparencies (as seen here), but projectorsfor 6x6cm slides are also available.Transparencies are projected by an overhead projector or a slideprojector onto a screen - in this case a folding screen which canbe packed up

25、and transported.The notebook computer is increasingly being used to displaygraphics during presentations. It is often used in conjunctionwith an overhead projector, which actually projects the imagefrom the computer screen onto the wall screen.Handouts are any documents or samples that you hand out

26、ordistribute to your audience. Note that it is not usually a good ideato distribute handouts before your presentation. The audience willread the handouts instead of listening to you.DeliveryDelivery refers to the way in which you actually deliver orperform or give your presentation. Delivery is a vi

27、tal aspect of allpresentations. Delivery is at least as important as content,especially in a multi-cultural context.NervesMost speakers are a little nervous at the beginning of apresentation. So it is normal if you are nervous. The answer is topay special attention to the beginning of your presentat

28、ion.First impressions count. This is the time when you establisha rapport with your audience. During this time, try to speakslowly and calmly. You should perhaps learn your introductionby heart. After a few moments, you will relax and gainconfidence.Audience RapportYou need to build a warm and frien

29、dly relationship with youraudience. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you are enthusiasticyour audience will be enthusiastic too. And be careful toestablish eye contact with each member of your audience. Eachperson should feel that you are speaking directly to himor her. This means that you must look at

30、each person in turn- in as natural a way as possible. This will also give you theopportunity to detect signs of boredom, disinterest or evendisagreement, allowing you to modify your presentation asappropriate.Your objective is to communicate!Body LanguageWhat you do not say is at least as important

31、as what you do say.Your body is speaking to your audience even before you openyour mouth. Your clothes, your walk, your glasses, your haircut,your expression - it is from these that your audience forms itsfirst impression as you enter the room. Generally speaking, it isbetter to stand rather than sit when making a presentation. Beaware of and avoid any repetitive and irritating gestures. Beaware, too, that the movement of your body is one of yourmethods of control. When you move to or from the whiteboard,for example, you can move fast or slowly, raising or re